


Fair Play

by AnaliseGrey



Series: Moonbeam, Blossom, and Spark [5]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Begging, Bratting, Dom Caleb Widogast, Essek has a bad week, Manhandling, Multi, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Riding Crops, Rope Bondage, Spanking, Stress Relief, first time sub Essek, sexy magic used for sexy purposes (it's sex), so much smut yo, the boys 'help'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:07:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28162149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaliseGrey/pseuds/AnaliseGrey
Summary: He turns his attention to Caleb after taking a sip of his coffee, and finds him looking back at him, a soft and fond expression on his face. It’s not that Essek’s never seen that expression on him before- he’s seen it plenty- it’s just never been aimed athimbefore. Usually it’s a look Caleb reserves for Molly on evenings when they play, and Essek can’t begin to fathom why it’s being leveled at him.“Essek-”“Yes, Caleb?”“How was your day?”“Long, but thankfully over now. I have a few days off before sentencing.” He huffs a laugh. “I’ll be glad to spend a day without being in the blasted Bastion.”And there it is again, the silent exchange between Caleb and Molly, and now he’s beginning to get suspicious. He’s about to ask when Caleb speaks again.“It’s wonderful you have some time off, then. You’ve seemed a little-” Caleb considers. “-stressed, lately. We were thinking we might like to help.”
Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Series: Moonbeam, Blossom, and Spark [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013718
Comments: 13
Kudos: 101





	Fair Play

**Author's Note:**

> You know how sometimes you start to write something, and you don't really check word count til the end, and next thing you know you've written 13k words of cathartic smut?
> 
> yeah. 
> 
> Art of Essek provided by the illustrious [skitpost!](https://skitpost.tumblr.com)

It has been a very long day.

No, strike that; it has been a very long _week_.

Eight days prior, there was an assassination attempt on a Den leader; thankfully not one of the Umavis, or it would be turning into a very long _year_. As it stands, he’s spent the better part of a week making sure the culprit was apprehended successfully, and then questioned, making _absolutely certain_ that it was a lone actor, rather than a conspiracy.

If Essek can go another decade without some disgruntled upstart making his life difficult with an ill-conceived assassination attempt, he’ll take it and be grateful.

As it is, he gets back to the estate later in the day than he’d hoped, but still far earlier than he’d expected when the day began. The investigation proper has wrapped up, and sentencing won’t be for another day or so; he’s been given leave to take the time until sentencing to rest after a job well-done.

He floats up the front walk to his door, which opens before he has a chance to do it himself. There in the doorway is Molly, looking a combination of pensive and pleased, tail flicking low to the ground. He moves to the side, opening the door wider so Essek can make his way in, and then shuts it once Essek’s clear.

The door closes, and Essek lets himself drop back down to the floor with a sigh, unutterably glad to be home again.

Molly comes up alongside him a moment later, gently tugging at the clasp to Essek’s mantle, and Essek helps him open it so that it’s easier to slide off. He lets out a breath as Molly removes it, a literal and figurative weight lifting from him. Molly deposits it on the stand near the door, then returns to duck down to give Essek a kiss, which Essek happily returns until Molly pulls back to speak.

“Glad you’re home.”

Essek takes a moment and leans forward, letting his head rest against Molly’s chest.

“Me too, blossom.”

He’s tugged along into the dining room where Caleb is in the process of setting out food- Marquesian, from the smell of spice- and his stomach rumbles. Trying to think back to the last time he ate, Essek’s brow furrows as he comes up blank.

It hardly matters whether he has or not, in any case. There’s food in front of him now, and he savors the flavors and spices of a far-off land as a little more tension drains from him. There’s not a lot of conversation while they eat, and he’s tired enough that he doesn’t actually notice it until they’ve finished, Molly returning from the kitchen with small cups of Marquesian coffee, setting one out for each of them. Molly’s being especially attentive, oddly well-behaved, and Essek catches the briefest flicker of a silent conversation between the other two men in the room.

He turns his attention to Caleb after taking a sip of his coffee, and finds him looking back at him, a soft and fond expression on his face. It’s not that Essek’s never seen that expression on him before- he’s seen it plenty- it’s just never been aimed at _him_. Usually it’s a look Caleb reserves for Molly on evenings when they play, and Essek can’t begin to fathom why it’s being leveled at him.

“Essek-”

“Yes, Caleb?”

“How was your day?”

“Long, but thankfully over now. I have a few days off before sentencing.” He huffs a laugh. “I’ll be glad to spend a day without being in the blasted Bastion.”

And there it is again, the silent exchange between Caleb and Molly, and now he’s beginning to get suspicious. He’s about to ask when Caleb speaks again.

“It’s wonderful you have some time off, then. You’ve seemed a little-” Caleb considers. “-stressed, lately. We were thinking we might like to help.”

Essek snorts, setting his coffee cup down. “Well yes, I think ‘stressed’ is a good word for it. But I’m not sure how you think you’re going to help, exactly. Are you trying to take my job?” he teases, smiling over at Caleb. “The Dynasty’s first human Shadowhand? I’m sure it will be all the gossips talk about for decades.”

Caleb doesn’t look away, just keeps looking at him steadily, and Essek has the oddest desire to squirm.

“The weight of your station is a difficult one to bear at the best of times, Essek. You take care of _us_ all the time; would you perhaps permit us, at least once, to take care of you? To help you unburden yourself, if only for one night.”

It takes a moment for Essek to grasp the full meaning of what Caleb’s suggesting, and when he does he lets out an incredulous laugh.

“Is this a coup, then?”

“It is us, wanting to help you how we can. You carry an incredible burden at the best of times, and the last week or so has been especially taxing; we’ve both seen it.” Caleb pushes back from the table and stands, moving around until he’s next to Essek’s chair, looking down at him. “What we’re offering you is a chance to set that burden down. To, for one evening, not have to be the Shadowhand Thelyss, to not be sir, but to just be _Essek_. To not have to hold onto your control so tightly.”

Essek licks his lips, unable to break away from Caleb’s intent gaze.

“I don’t know if that’s something I can do,” he says honestly. He appreciates what Caleb and Molly are trying to do, he _does_ , but he’s spent 120 years making himself into who he is now, in honing that control, and he’s not sure whether he’s capable of willingly giving it up, even for them.

Stepping closer so that Essek can feel the heat of him, Caleb cradles the side of Essek’s face with one hand.

“Would you let us try?”

“What-” he clears his throat, which is suddenly drier than it was a moment ago. “What did you have in mind?”

Caleb’s lips tip up ever-so-slightly, eyes crinkling in a smile.

“We will go over your list, same as you had us do. If there’s anything you definitely don’t want, then those are of course off the table. But if there are things you _do_ want, things you might be interested in, we are more than happy to accommodate and let you try them.”

He blinks slowly, thinking of some of the things on the list he’d initially had both Caleb and Molly go through, and embarrassingly enough, his ears flick, one of his very few tells. Caleb’s smile grows, and Essek scowls up at him, though it lacks any real heat.

“I suppose- in the interest of gathering information, of course- that it could not hurt to try.”

“For science!”

Essek’s eyes dart over to Molly, who looks almost ready to vibrate out of his chair, tail knocking audibly into the legs of the table.

Molly works to clean up dinner while Caleb and Essek go to the library after stopping in Essek’s office to get a copy of the list. In no time, Caleb has the fire going, crackling warm and pleasant, and even as he’s going down the list, scratching some things off, circling or underlining others, Essek can’t quite believe he’s doing this.

This isn’t who he is. He doesn’t give up control, he doesn’t let someone else take the lead. He _certainly_ doesn’t let someone else do to him the things he’s marking on the list as maybes and yes’s.

Except that apparently he is, and he does.

His brow furrows as he goes through the options, biting his lip, and he doesn’t realize he’s scowling again until Caleb takes hold of his chin and turns it, kissing him.

“You are not signing your confession, Essek,” Caleb says with a small smile. “This is supposed to be something you enjoy, not a test. Even if all you wanted was a nice bath and a massage, that would be alright. There is no wrong answer, and nothing happens without you wanting it to. We are not going to treat you any less than how you treat us. This isn’t some form of revenge; this is us, wanting to take care of you, who has always taken such good care of us.”

He must be more tired than he thought if Caleb’s words are making his eyes prickle at the corners and the tips of his ears heat.

“I know, but it-” Light above, is he going to blush over everything? “-it’s difficult.”

Expression softening, Caleb leans in and kisses him again, letting their foreheads rest together when he pulls back.

“I know, _schatz_ , believe me I do. Giving up control is no easy thing, especially when you’ve had to hold on for so very long.” He lifts his head and kisses Essek on the tip of his nose. “I can tell you though, from my own experience? It is worth it to try.”

Wrinkling his nose, Essek looks back at the list, makes a few more annotations, then hands it over to Caleb with a vague sense of trepidation. Caleb’s eyes flick over it, and Essek's reminded how _quickly_ Caleb reads.

“Alright.” He looks back up at Essek, with that same fond expression from dinner. “And I know it is something you tell us all the time, but I am going to say it to you now, since it bears repeating, especially as this is your first time. If at any point you change your mind, or don’t like what’s happening, about _any_ of this, you are allowed to say so. We will stop and re-evaluate what we’d like to do. It is that simple. There is no need to suffer unpleasantly.”

Essek looks up at him, eyebrows raised. “As opposed to what, suffering _pleasantly_?”

Snorting, Caleb pats Essek on the cheek. “ _Schatz_ , what do you think you do to us so frequently? Of course it’s pleasant, if occasionally frustrating. Trust us that if it weren’t, we would not keep coming back to your bed to let you do it.”

“Well, I know _you_ two enjoy it. I don’t know that I can.”

Caleb leans in, drawing Essek back to him with a light hand on his jaw and presses a kiss to Essek’s lips, light and far more chaste than they usually go for.

“Let _us_ worry about that; it is not your job tonight.”

Taking a deep breath to settle himself, Essek lets it out on a sigh, his shoulders dropping. “I’ll try.”

“That is all we ask, _schatz_.”

Caleb’s eyes look past him towards the door, and when Essek turns to look Molly is there, head just poked inside.

“Wait here a moment, please.” Caleb pats him on the knee and stands, heading over to speak quietly with Molly for a moment, and as he does, Molly’s face brightens, ears perking up excitedly.

“Yeah, I can do that. No problem.” He darts off again to parts unknown, and Caleb returns to sit next to him, hand landing on Essek’s leg, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Here is what is going to happen,” Caleb says, thumb starting to sweep in a distracting way across Essek’s knee. “Molly has gone to run a bath for the both of you while I work to get things ready. There is no rush, none of us have any place to be, so please do not feel you have to hurry.”

Essek nods, already feeling an edge of nerves starting to creep in, but viciously stuffs them down.

“Do you have any questions before I send you off to the resident trouble-maker?”

That makes Essek smile a moment before his nerves starts to take hold again.

“How- how should I address you? I don’t know if I can-”

Caleb quiets him with a finger pressed lightly to Essek’s lips.

“‘Caleb’ is more than acceptable. We are not moving mountains, tonight.” The crinkles at his eyes deepen. “We go with what you are already comfortable with.”

Nodding, Essek bites his lip.

“Alright, Caleb.”

“Good. Now, off you go.” He gestures towards the door. “Molly is waiting for you.”

Essek leaves the library, feeling more thoroughly handled than he has been by anyone in _years_. He makes it to the bathing chamber without conscious thought, deep in his own mind, contemplating what he’s just agreed to. When he opens the door he’s met by a billow of scented steam which knocks him out of his thoughts. For some reason, he’d expected the scent of lavender, since it’s Molly preparing the bath, but it isn’t; it’s his own preferred vanilla-sandalwood bathing oil, and even just smelling it helps him relax.

“Heya, moonbeam!”

Molly’s over near some of the shelving, just grabbing a small wooden bowl they use to put jewelry in. He brings it over, smiling.

“Do you want to take them out, or would you like me to?”

It takes Essek a second to get what Molly’s talking about and then it hits him; he takes his jewelry out so infrequently that he sometimes forgets he’s wearing it. He’s always insisted that Molly remove his own before they play, for safety reasons, and it seems Molly is intent on doing the same for him.

“I can do it.”

“Okay!”

It’s almost disconcerting how chipper Molly is, even more so than usual, and Essek would be annoyed about it if Molly didn’t also seem so earnestly excited for him. He holds the bowl, letting Essek drop his ear caps and earrings into it, along with his rings, and he feels oddly naked without them all. Molly goes to set the bowl aside and Essek starts to undress, making it to his small clothes and undertunic before Molly appears at his side again, hands alighting warm on his upper arms.

“Can I help you?”

“I am perfectly capable of undressing myself, blossom.”

“Of course you are.” Molly gives his arms a squeeze. “But I’d like to do it, if you’ll let me?”

And here it is again, the sensation of being gently handled.

It doesn’t hurt anything to give Molly this, to let him do it if it makes him happy. He nods, and Molly lights up as if someone’s given him a present.

He doesn’t draw it out, doesn’t make as much of a show of it as Essek anticipates, but there’s somehow still something sensual and full of care in how Molly undresses him. He undoes the ties at the side of the tunic, and reaches to Essek’s shoulders, slipping his hands underneath to caress across warm skin as he uses the motion to help Essek shrug out of it. He sets it aside, then lets his hands come to rest on Essek’s slim hips, just above the start of his small clothes. He pulls Essek in to a kiss, and it’s gentle, soft, and he’s not quite sure how Molly’s melting into a kiss he himself started, but he is, and it’s wonderful.

By the time Molly pulls back they’re both breathless, Molly flushed a lovely fuschia, and Essek can only guess what shade of dark smokey purple he’s turned himself. One of Molly’s hands stays on Essek’s hip while the other goes to the little pearl buttons that hold his small clothes closed, popping them open, and uses another caress of his hands to pull them down over Essek’s hips. Dropping gracefully to his knees, Molly takes Essek’s hand and settles it on one of his shoulders for balance as he helps him step out of the last of his clothes. Tossing them aside, Molly stands again, pulling Essek close for another kiss, and it’s not until they’re pressed flush that Essek realizes he’s naked and Molly isn’t; his face heats a little more at the realization, and hopes that the heat of the room in general will help conceal it.

After another quick peck on the lips, Molly shoos him towards the water, telling him he’ll be there in a moment once he’s undressed as well.

He dips a toe into the water to test temperature, and hisses at the heat. It’s not painful, but only barely, and exactly how he likes it. He steps in the rest of the way, wading over towards one of the benches and sits, the water coming up to his collarbones. He tilts his head back with a sigh, eyes sliding closed, though they open again a few seconds later as Molly gets in as well, the water rippling around him as he approaches. Instead of sitting next to him like Essek expects, Molly straddles his lap instead, facing him, lips quirking up in a wicked smile at Essek’s expression of surprise.

“You didn’t think I was going to get you all wet and slippery and _not_ tease you at least a tiny bit, did you?”

Essek tries to scowl up at him, but Molly shifts his weight in a way that has Essek gasping, reflexively grabbing hold of Molly’s hips, and it’s very difficult to keep scowling in the face of that.

Molly stops after a moment, still smiling though not with as much intent, and slides off Essek’s lap, reaching around his head for the small basket on the floor near the edge of the tub. Essek’s mind is still caught up in the feeling of Molly on his lap, squirming, and how good it had felt. He’s of a mind to grab him and drag him back, but that’s not what tonight is about, so instead he takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

The wink Molly tosses him when he settles next to him on the bench tells him he was only marginally successful.

“Do you want the hair stuff that smells like you, or the hair stuff that smells like Caleb?”

His own is more of the vanilla-sandalwood scent, same as his bath oil. Caleb’s though is warmer, with notes of cinnamon and clove, and a thrill goes through Essek at the idea of smelling like Caleb, of having his scent on him.

“Caleb’s, please.”

“No problem.” Molly tosses one of the little bars in his hands back into the basket, keeping the other in his hand. “Do you want to dunk under to get your hair wet, or just pour water over it?”

“Dunking is fine.” Rising from the bench, Essek moves to the center of the pool and takes a deep breath before dunking himself under, running his fingers through his hair to make sure it’s all wet, and loosening the carefully created style it’s been in all day. When he pops back up he lets the breath out, and pushes his dripping hair back from his forehead so he can see. Molly beckons him over to the bench again, having him sit sideways. Ducking the bar into the water to wet it, Molly moves it up to Essek’s hair, quickly building up a lather. He sets the bar aside on the tub edge, and starts massaging the suds into Essek’s hair.

He’s not sure whether it’s just that nobody's ever done this for him, or just the state of mind he’s currently in, but it comes as something of a surprise to him and Molly both when a quiet moan slips out of his mouth. Molly’s fingers pause, and Essek’s eyes go wide, though thankfully he’s facing away from Molly so the other man doesn’t see it.

“Relax, moonbeam. No reason to tense back up.”

Now that Molly mentions it, Essek realizes his shoulders have pulled up, and consciously makes himself drop them back down.

“It’s okay to enjoy this; it feels good, right?”

“Yes,” Essek says, voice rougher than it normally is. “Yes it does.”

“Well, we _want_ you to feel good.” Molly’s hands start back up again, his claws occasionally scritching across Essek’s scalp, sending pleasant shivers through him. Eventually though, Molly finishes up and pulls his hands back, reaching for a bowl near the large golden faucet.

“Move over here and lean back a bit.”

Essek does as directed, and Molly puts one hand under his upper back, helping to support him.

“Tilt your head back, far as you can, and close your eyes.” Essek does so, and he can hear the smile in Molly’s voice. “Don’t want to accidentally get any bubbles in there.”

A moment later warm water is sluicing over his hair, over and over as Molly works to rinse the lather out again. Finally it’s clear of suds, and Molly helps him to stand straight again, urging him to go sit.

He does, and after setting the bowl aside, Molly approaches him with the soap bar in one hand, and a soft cloth in the other. He works more suds up on the cloth and proceeds to swipe it over Essek’s skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. It feels wonderful, warm yet shivery at the same time, and he has to keep reminding himself that this isn’t actually what the evening is going to be, at least not entirely.

Eventually though, Molly looks at him, somehow apologetic and knowing all at once.

“I think you’re clean enough. Time to go get dirty.”

Essek rolls his eyes, floating himself up out of the tub after rinsing off, and straight to the towel warmer. He’ll never admit out loud that he likes it, swearing that he got it because Molly kept complaining how chilly he’d get after baths, but it is nice to fold himself into a warmed towel. Molly’s not far behind him, padding across the tile to nab a towel for himself. He scrubs it over his head quickly so he doesn’t drip everywhere, then wraps it around himself and grabs Essek’s hand, pulling him along behind.

“And where are we going?” Essek asks, amused.

“To make you pretty.” A pause, and Molly looks back over his shoulder at him. “Well- pretti _er_. You’re already delicious, we’re just going to zhuzh you up a bit, is all.”

They make it to the bedroom, and Essek’s half-expecting Caleb to be there, but he isn’t.

“He’s making his tower. Figured it would be easier.” Molly leads him over to his vanity and sits Essek down, towel and all. He pulls his own towel back off and uses it to dry Essek’s hair, then tosses it aside. Essek raises his hand to start finger combing his hair back into some semblance of order, but Molly slaps his hand away.

“Nope. And none of the stuff you put in it, either.”

His mouth is already opening in indignation when Molly ducks down and silences him with a kiss. When he pulls back, he looks fond, though he does brush some of Essek’s hair out of his face.

“Your hair is fine. It looks good a little tousled. Besides, it’s only going to get messy again in a little while.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

Molly gives him a _look_ , grinning. “You’ve seen what my hair looks like when the two of you are done with me. Do you think yours will fair any better?”

It’s annoying, but he gets the point.

“Then what precisely are we doing in here?”

“ _You_ are going to sit here quietly while I put makeup on you, while _I_ give you something for us to muss up because it’s fun.” He’s already digging through one of the drawers, pulling out a few different types of brush and a couple of small cosmetic pots. He grins over his shoulder at Essek before going back to the drawer. “Also because you don’t wear makeup nearly enough, and you’re even more ridiculously gorgeous when you do.” 

Sighing, Essek resigns himself to Molly’s whims, and closes his eyes as instructed.

At this point, it may as well happen.

Molly applies something to his eyelids all over, then something that feels cool and wet just above his lashes. Something else gets swiped onto the arch and points of his ears, making him shiver, with small dabs at the lobes, and something with a soft brush gets dusted what feels like all over- the curves of his shoulders, along his collarbone, up the line of his throat. Molly gets him to take the towel off so he can continue, brushing more at his hips and just over the inside of his thighs, and Essek’s glad his eyes are closed. He feels a little ridiculous, can’t imagine why he’s letting Molly do this to him-

“Alright, I’m done. Take a look.”

Oh. _Oh_.

Essek leans in, looking at his reflection, and he looks-

He looks otherworldly, the soft sheen and shimmer of gold shining brightly against his skin, dusted over him, layered more compactly at his ears and eyelids, and Molly’s used some sort of metallic paint to line his eyes. With his hair still tousled instead of carefully styled, he looks like a wild thing, some fey creature out of a story book, and he doesn’t quite know what to do with that.

Molly leans over his shoulder, not resting his chin as he usually would in deference to the makeup, and smiles, eyes twinkling.

“See? Ridiculously gorgeous, just as I said.” Molly presses a kiss to his temple and pulls back, urging Essek to rise and follow him.

When Essek realizes he’s being shepherded to the door he balks, frowning.

“Wait, shouldn’t we put on-”

“Clothes?”

Essek nods, and Molly’s grin gains an air of amusement.

“And what sort of clothing do you think is appropriate for whatever you’ve asked Caleb to do?”

He thinks about it for a moment, tries very hard to come up with something, _anything_ , but ultimately has to admit defeat.

“That’s what I thought.” Molly moves back over to him, though, and takes his hands up, giving them each a kiss on the knuckles, then a squeeze. “We’re only going to the library, where he’s set up the Tower. There’s nobody here to see you but us, and even if there were, they’d only be jealous.”

He’s right, Essek knows he is, but even before Caleb and Molly moved in with him, he doesn’t think he’d ever gone anywhere in his house naked. It had always felt too vulnerable, too open and dangerous, even if nobody else could see; he’s agreed to try being vulnerable tonight, though, to give up some of his closely-guarded control. He’s agreed to let them take care of him, and this is the first real test of that. He takes a deep breath, lets it out, then lifts his head high as if he were still wearing his mantle.

“Alright then. I’m sure Caleb is waiting.”

“Yes he is.” Molly presses his lips once more to Essek’s fingers. “Trust us, we won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“I know.” And he _does_ know that. For all the teasing and impertinence, Essek knows Molly takes the concept of trust very seriously, and if he says Essek is safe, then he’s safe. “I am just- perhaps a bit nervous. It feels a little silly,” he says, gesturing to himself.

“Life’s a stage, darling.” Molly turns towards the door again. “This is just the costume you’re wearing tonight; you’re trying out a new role is all, nothing to worry about.”

He allows himself to be led to the library, and Molly opens the door, waving him in, then follows behind. The fire is roaring in the fireplace, warm and bright, and Essek hadn’t ever realized how it feels, all that warmth on so much bare skin; it turns out it’s quite nice.

“Oh, look at you.”

Caleb appears at Essek’s side from seemingly nowhere, eyes drinking him in, and another flush of self-consciousness settles over him. It’s a fight not to quail, not to reflexively shrink in on himself without his many layers to hide behind, but it’s worth it for the look Caleb’s giving him, as if he’s going to devour Essek whole.

Molly pops up next to them both a moment later, bouncing on his toes.

“So, what do you think?”

“I think you have done an exemplary job of helping our moonbeam get ready. He looks radiant.”

Essek finds his cheeks flushing hot, and curses his damnable ears as they flick again.

“Why thank you.” Molly gently pokes Essek in the ribs with his elbow, and for a moment he’s confused as to why but then he sees Caleb looking at him again, and he swallows.

“Uh- thank you.”

Brilliant. Amazing. One of the top minds of the Dynasty; well done, Thelyss.

Caleb takes a step in closer, and Essek has to tilt his head up to look at his face. He knows Caleb’s taller than he is- Caleb and Molly both are- but he isn’t usually as acutely aware of it as he is in this moment. Caleb takes Essek’s face in his hands, uncaring of the gold dust he might be smudging, and leans in to kiss him. It’s the sort of kiss Essek is used to initiating himself, rather than being on the receiving end of- dirty, passionate, all-consuming. He’s a little breathless by the time Caleb pulls back, and he’s just going to have to accept that his ears are going to do whatever they want as they flick again at the look Caleb levels at him.

“I am going to take immense pleasure in taking you apart, _schatz_.”

Essek lifts his chin in clear challenge, wrapping himself in the remaining shreds of his usual persona.

"You can certainly try."

Caleb doesn’t take the bait, just watching Essek with a small, calm smile, and when Essek’s face drops into a scowl again, Caleb’s smile just widens.

“Well. We’ll see what I can do for you, then, _schatz_. If you’ll follow me, please.”

The door to the Tower is in its usual place, just to the side of the couch, and when he passes through, one of the first things Essek notices is that the slate flooring beneath his bare feet is pleasantly warm. It’s not something he’d have thought of, a small, thoughtful sort of kindness, which Essek knows Caleb excels at, even if Caleb himself often disagrees.

Caleb leads them to one of what Molly fondly calls ‘the rooms of stuff’, the rooms that are malleable, able to become whatever is needed in the moment. He opens the doors into a room that’s strikingly similar to Essek's own library which they’d just left, though with some differences. It’s bigger, for one, taking up at least twice the amount of space as his own does. The decoration also smacks of Caleb’s touch- dark, gleaming woods, deep maroon and gold accents and the like. Other than the sheer size and color scheme, the biggest difference really is the furniture. His library has chairs and a couch, as this room does.

He’s relatively certain his doesn’t have a spanking bench, though. Or a large, heavy wooden ‘x’ with restraints dangling off of it. There’s a cabinet, made of darkly-stained mahogany that looks nearly-identical to the toy cabinet in their bedroom, though he has no idea whether the contents are the same as well. There are far more pillows than he can count, scattered in piles in front of a large, roaring fireplace, and he briefly wonders what it would feel like to lounge on them, naked in front of the fire.

Perhaps he’ll get to find out.

“If you would please have a seat?” Caleb’s gesturing over to the couch, and after a moment’s hesitation he sits gingerly on it; he’d half-expected Caleb to request he kneel on the floor.

“I only plan to push your boundaries in the specific ways you’ve indicated. Our goal is to help you let go for an evening, not to distress you.” Caleb’s smile is warmer than the fire, and Essek feels some small part of his nerves settle.

Molly plops down next to him, folding his legs under himself and winding his tail around Essek’s ankle, giving a small ripple. It feels nice, grounding, and Essek takes a deep breath and lets it out before looking up at Caleb where he’s sat himself in one of the larger plush chairs. Caleb’s smile is still warm and fond, and despite some of what might be coming, Essek finds himself relaxing more and more.

“I have taken a look at some of what you chose, things you thought you might like to try. A number of them, I know or expect you have experienced from the other side of things, _ja_?” Essek nods, and Caleb continues. “Based on what you marked off, and what you’ve indicated, I have a number of options we might try.” He stands, crossing over to stand in front of Essek, not quite looming, but definitively in Essek’s space. Essek looks up at him, staring as defiantly as he can, and Caleb’s expression shifts; it’s still warm, still fond, but there’s a sharpness to it that he doesn’t think he’s seen Caleb aim at him before.

It puts him in mind of a big cat on the hunt.

“I can see you are going to fight, and that is okay. I know it is difficult for ones such as us to willingly give over control, even if we desperately want to.” Callused fingers take Essek by the chin, tilting his head up further until he and Caleb are looking each other in the eye. "I've always wondered what color your ass would turn at my hand. Shall we find out?"

He’s supposed to be giving in. He’s supposed to be letting go, and letting them take care of him, the way he takes care of _them_ -

Caleb’s right, though. 

It _is_ difficult. And he _is_ going to fight. 

He’s spent the last century and almost a quarter building his defenses, putting these walls up, and for good reason. If he’s going to have any chance of letting go, of putting this control down, it will have to be because it’s been wrested from him by force.

He lifts his chin higher, Caleb’s fingers still not letting go, and tries to keep his expression defiant.

“Do your worst, Caleb.”

Raising an eyebrow, Caleb tightens his grip. “I don’t know that you’re quite up for my worst, _schatz_. What _is_ going to happen, though, is you are going to lay on that bench over there,” He uses his grip on Essek’s chin to turn his head, aiming him at the spanking bench he’d seen as they entered. “When you get there, you will need to decide whether I bind you to it or not. You will have options based on what you choose. Do you understand?”

Essek’s eyes narrow, jaw tightening before he manages to grit out, “Yes, Caleb.”

“Very good.” The fingers let go of his chin, though Essek can still feel their phantom warmth for a few seconds. Caleb takes a step back, giving Essek space to stand, and levels an expectant look at him. “At your convenience, _Kätzchen_.”

He takes a second, pulling himself together, and rises, turning toward the bench and walking as if he were moving through the halls of the Bastion. Just because he’s naked, shimmering gold, and about to get his ass therapeutically handed to him is no reason not to have some sense of composure.

It’s not the most intimidating spanking bench Essek’s ever seen.

It’s relatively close to the ground, not much extra height beyond that required for its function. There are two horizontal padded rests for his shins, a taller, wider, padded platform angled slightly towards the front, presumably for his torso, and two shorter narrower padded rests between the two heights, set forward, for his arms. He gets as far as getting his legs on the lower rests and stops, hands on the edge of the middle platform. He isn’t entirely sure what’s stopping him, and he thinks it may be that he just wants to see what Caleb will do if he resists.

He’s always had something of a problem with curiosity.

Caleb’s footsteps are light behind him, but audible.

“If it will help, I can make you.” Caleb’s hand lands between Essek’s shoulder blades, not heavy, not pushing, just- present.

Saying yes is too easy; asking to be put in his place that blatantly isn’t something he can do. What he _can_ do is subtly lean back into Caleb’s hand until Caleb has to work to keep his hand in place. It’s not more than a few moments before Caleb’s other hand is at Essek’s arm, sliding down to the wrist, pulling up and behind as the hand Caleb has on his back pushes down. Essek finds himself being shoved forward, the air going out of him in a quiet grunt. Caleb’s hands don’t move, the one at his back pressing him down into the padded platform, the one at his wrist pulled just high enough that Essek gasps.

“These are your choices, Essek," Caleb says, holding Essek steady as he tries to tug his wrist loose, to push up against the hand flat between his shoulder blades. “If you choose, I can bind you to the bench.” His hand on Essek’s wrist squeezes gently then relaxes. “I will hit you, with my hand and likely other things, until you beg me to stop, or until _I_ decide you’ve had enough. At that point, I will make sure you find your release however you like, within our usual boundaries. This is likely the easier option of the two.”

“And what is your second option?” He tries tugging at his wrist again, but either Caleb is stronger than he thinks, or has the more advantageous position, because he can’t get out of it.

“Your second option is that I do _not_ bind you down, but do everything else exactly the same. For every instance that you move out of position, there will be penalties to suffer before you’re allowed to come.”

Caleb says there’s two choices, but they both know there’s really only one.

“Option two.”

There’s a brief tug at his wrist and he hisses as his shoulder strains.

“Option two, Caleb.”

Another light squeeze to his wrist, and then Caleb lets go, beginning to position Essek to his liking. He uses a light but firm grip on the back of Essek’s neck to direct him down over the middle platform, his chest and belly supported, though the angle does have his ass raised in the air. His arms Caleb places on the two rests just forward of his chest, placing his hands so he can grip if he needs to. He doesn’t move Essek’s legs much, but Caleb does something to the bench itself, just to either side of his hips on the edge of the platform, facing him.

“I’ve made a chalk mark to either side of your hips. If you move your ass out of the way, I will know. Also, if your arms leave the rests, I will know; if your chest leaves the surface of the _bench_ , I will know. Each of those will result in accruing a mark against you. We will have to wait and see how many you’ve earned by the end, and then I will determine your options.”

Caleb heads to the cabinet on the other side of the room, and Essek wonders if Caleb placed it where he did just so he wouldn’t be able to see it without breaking position.

He’s so focused on Caleb, that he’s taken completely by surprise as something smacks into his thighs with a sting. Yelping, Essek jumps, turning his head to see Molly just to the side, his tail swishing and flicking delightedly.

“I will not hold that one against you, _schatz_ ,” Caleb calls across the room. “And blossom, go sit in front so he can see you.”

Molly grumbles good-naturedly but goes, grabbing one of the larger, fluffier pillows from near the fire, bringing it over with him, dropping it to the ground in front of the bench. He sinks to his knees on the cushion, face level with Essek’s. Leaning forward, Molly rests his arms on the front of the platform Essek’s laying on, and smiles, darting in to kiss his forehead.

“How’re you doing, moonbeam?”

“Perfectly well, thank you.”

Molly snorts, and pats Essek’s cheek. 

“Enjoy it while you can.”

Caleb returns a moment later, and whatever Molly sees as he ducks to the side to look makes his face break into a grin as he moves back to center. He kisses Essek’s nose, evoking a scowl.

“Good luck, moonbeam.”

“Are you ready, _schatz_?”

Essek swallows. “Yes, Caleb.” and sets his jaw, trying to prepare himself.

This was one of the things on his list that had been a ‘maybe’. He’s had experience in it from where Caleb is now, but not from the side taking it. It’s something he’d wanted to try, among others. Caleb’s manhandling him down to the bench had been another.

Something touches his ass, gently, and he barely stops himself from jumping again, even though he knew it was coming. He’d been expecting pain, and this isn’t that. It’s Caleb’s hand, petting over the curve of his ass, along the backs of his thighs and up again, his other hand warm and resting at the small of Essek’s back. He must be kneeling perpendicular to Essek to get the angle right. The anticipation affects him worse than he’d expected. He’d thought they would leap right into things, Caleb laying into him at the outset, and he really ought to have known better than to think Caleb would do _anything_ like how he expects.

He’s just getting used to the feeling of Caleb’s hand massaging his ass when it lifts, coming back down in a heavy smack.

A small _meep_ makes it past his lips, which he will deny to his dying day, but he does manage not to jump, keeping where Caleb put him. Caleb starts up a rhythm of a kind- warm hand rubbing over Essek’s ass before pulling back and coming down in a smack again. It’s easier than Essek expects to fall into it, the steadiness of it. After a time he stops noticing how warm Caleb’s hand is, his ass heating up to match.

Caleb lays down one more especially-forceful slap and then doesn’t continue, knocking Essek out of his thoughts.

“What do you think, blossom?”

Essek opens his eyes, unsure when he closed them, to find Molly leaning over and around him to talk to Caleb.

“Seems pretty relaxed, not much of a challenge so far. You might be putting him to sleep.” Molly’s eyes flick over to his own, crinkled up in a smile. “Maybe you should try something else?”

“Perhaps so. Thank you for your observations, blossom.”

Molly winks at Essek, and Essek gets the distinct impression he’s just been set up.

He’s proven correct when Caleb moves, standing again from the sound of it. He picks something up, followed by the sound of something swishing through the air. He can’t help but suck in a breath even though nothing actually touches him.

“Well, we can’t have you falling asleep, now can we. I think it is perhaps time you wake up a little, _Kätzchen_.”

The whistle sounds again, but this time followed by a stinging impact. He jumps this time, unable to help it; the sensation is so different than Caleb’s hand, which while it stung it was spread out. This, whatever it is, is smaller, and has a bit of bite to it. He hadn’t realized how sensitive his ass was after the initial spanking, but he’s being well-informed about it now.

“That is one, _schatz_. Shall we see how many more I can get out of you?”

Gritting his teeth, Essek bears down on the bench, gripping tight at the arm rests, refusing to answer. He sees a small nod from Molly out of his peripheral vision, and the whistle and _smack_ comes again, this time just under the curve of his ass, near where it meets his thigh. He hisses, but holds position.

“You know,” Molly says, leaning in so he’s almost nose-to-nose with Essek. “It hurts more if you try to brace for it. If you relax, it won’t be so bad.”

The thing is, Essek _does_ know that; the problem is that if he relaxes so much as a muscle, he doesn’t know that he’ll be able to control himself enough to avoid earning more marks.

Caleb is tireless, working him over with precision and endless attention to detail. He finds the tenderest parts of Essek’s ass and thighs, the places that manage to pull cries and shouts and snarls from him, no matter how he tries to stay quiet and stoic. Caleb skips around between them seemingly at random; there’s no way to predict where the next strike will land, and that inability to know only makes it worse.

He does eventually stop bracing, if only because it’s too tiring to stay that tense for so long. The next smack doesn’t hurt quite as much, and neither do the next few, though they still add to the flaming ache growing across his ass and the back of his thighs.

“Hm.” 

The strikes pause, and Essek takes the time to breathe, to resettle down onto the bench.

Something taps lightly at the inside of his thighs, and he sucks in a breath in surprise.

“If you would, widen these slightly, please?”

There’s just enough room on the padded leg platforms to do as asked, and he situates himself just-so. He’s only moved his legs apart maybe a few inches at most, but it feels much farther. Caleb moves the implement he’s been using over Essek’s ass, not even hitting, but just dragging it, and a small sound slips out of him, unbidden.

“Do not forget, you can call an end at any time, Essek.”

“I will take that under advisement, _Caleb_.”

There’s no sound, but he _swears_ he hears Caleb’s eyebrows rise.

The stinging impact to the inside of his thigh is quick and vicious, and he yelps, chest coming up off the platform.

“That is two.”

Essek starts to get the impression that Caleb had been holding back previously, working him up to where he is now, the strikes growing more heavy-handed, but no less aggravatingly-precise for it. No matter how many times Essek tries to prepare himself, every time the blasted thing hits his inner thighs he moves- either his chest comes up, or his arms leave the rests for a split second. His ass and hips jolt to one side, as if it will do anything for the hit that’s already landed. The marks add up, and he can feel the tips of his ears get flamingly warm, flicking every time he fails to keep still.

And every time he moves, Caleb helpfully tells him how many marks he’s up to.

“That’s six, _schatz_.”

“Fourteen, blossom.”

“Twenty-three, _Kätzchen_.”

The numbers keep climbing, and there comes a point that it’s not even that his ass and thighs hurt- because they do, he’s going to have issues sitting tomorrow- but more the apprehension of what all these marks are going to _translate into_ that gets him.

In front of him, every few minutes, and especially when Caleb manages to get a cry out of him, Molly is murmuring words of encouragement, occasionally running his fingers through Essek’s hair when it sticks to Essek’s forehead.

“You’re doing so well,” Molly says. “Look at everything you’re taking from him.”

Something about the words makes his ears heat and flick almost as much as his inability to stay still, and he decides not to look too closely at that.

Caleb starts focusing in more on his inner thighs, still hitting other places occasionally, but four out of five hits are aimed there. He tries, he tries _so hard_ not to move, but it’s hopeless. He’s moving on almost every hit now, Caleb’s count climbing higher by the second.

The hit that does it isn’t even especially bad, one of a small cluster aimed where his ass meets his thighs, and the expectation that each next strike will hit his inner thighs, that the count will go up- that he’ll fail _again_ , unable to help it- is what does it.

“ _Please_ -”

The hits stop immediately, and Molly’s hand comes up to cradle his face.

“Please what, _schatz_?” Caleb’s voice is quiet, understanding; not remotely smug, for which Essek’s thankful.

“Please stop, Caleb.”

He doesn’t quite realize there’s tears sliding down his face until Molly uses his thumb to swipe some of them aside.

“You really _did_ do very well,” Molly whispers, leaning up to kiss the top of his head. “You took so much; not everyone can do that.”

Essek’s laugh is wet-sounding; one more thing he’s going to choose to ignore. “You speak as if it’s something to be _proud_ of.”

“And why isn’t it?” It doesn’t hold any of the usual glibness that Molly’s speech usually entails. “You did something that was incredibly difficult, let something happen that you knew would be hard, and _kept letting it happen_. You could have stopped it at any time, and you didn’t. That kind of strength is absolutely something to be proud of.”

“But I moved.” The words come out quieter and far more tremulous than Essek intends, much to his chagrin.

“So?” Molly wiggles closer so his forehead is pressed to Essek’s. “That was sort of the point, yeah? To make you let go, to push you. So you moved, so what? It’s not a catastrophe, I promise. This kind of failure is harmless. It doesn’t cost life or limb, other than the state of your ass right now, which I imagine must be _glowing_.” He kisses the top of Essek’s head again, and runs his fingers through his hair, scritching. "I promise you, moonbeam, this is all part of the process. The best thing is to go with it and let it happen to the extent you can. Sometimes you have to let yourself break down a bit to be able to build yourself back up stronger.”

Everything Molly’s saying makes an irritating amount of sense, and he nods, sniffling.

A hand alights gently on his ass and he hisses, almost having forgotten about it. Even with the careful touch it’s tender, Caleb’s palm now feeling cool against his heated skin.

“Well, I think we can now answer the question of what color you’d turn.” Caleb’s thumb sweeps across, and Essek’s breath shudders out of him at the sensation. “You _are_ in fact glowing. A rather fetching shade of deep purple, so you know. A few shades darker than our plum blossom here.”

“How lovely.” A second goes by, and Essek tacks on, “Caleb.”, only a little belatedly.

Caleb huffs a laugh and pats Essek’s ass, pulling a gasp and quiet groan from him.

“I’m going to apply some salve now, before we do anything else. You did take quite a lot, and I want to be sure you’re alright before we move on.”

All Essek can really do is nod, letting his head come down to rest on the front of the platform.

Caleb’s good as his word, dropping to Essek’s side a moment later. There’s the sound of a container opening, and the smell of something herbal, along with- honey? He thinks?

He’s still trying to identify everything in it by smell when Caleb starts rubbing some into Essek’s thighs. Essek hisses- it hurts, tender like a sunburn, but not unbearable. Caleb works his way up, from Essek’s thighs to his ass, and rests the container of salve on the small of Essek’s back while he works to rub it in.

Molly hasn’t stopped petting through his hair, and it feels quite nice, much more relaxing than what _had_ been going on, in his opinion. On one pass through, Molly’s hand brushes against the tip of Essek’s ear by accident, and Essek _squeaks_.

Both Molly and Caleb’s hands stop where they are.

“What was _that_?” 

The thread of delight in Molly’s voice is extremely worrisome.

Essek freezes.

There’s no good way to answer this, nothing he can say that will save him.

“It’s- I-” Light preserve him. “My ears are a bit- sensitive.”

Molly’s eyes zero in on the side of Essek’s head, arm already moving, and Essek squeezes his eyes shut. He can’t help the whine and shudder though as Molly’s fingertip drags lightly up to the point of his ear.

“How did we never know this-” Molly looks over Essek to Caleb, eyes wide and gleeful. “Caleb, _how did we never know this_?”

“I usually wear the ear caps,” Essek mutters, back to scowling, cheeks and ears once again growing warm. “They help protect from accidental contact.”

“Fashion _and_ function. How very you, Essek.” Molly’s hand moves again and Essek tenses, only for Molly to merely tuck a few strands of hair behind Essek’s ear, being careful not to touch the ear itself; it’s thoughtful, but doesn’t stop Essek from shivering at just the thought that Molly _could_ have touched it.

There’s a pat to his ass that has him sucking in a breath and trying to look over his shoulder; Caleb is smiling at him.

“You no longer need to hold position, _schatz_. If you like we can head back to the couch to discuss your penalties.”

Ah yes. That.

“Oh course, Caleb.”

Molly helps Essek up as Caleb moves back to sit near the fire, and Essek is surprised at how just the movement of standing has him feeling the twinge and pull of abused skin; he only barely resists the urge to touch it, to see if it glows with warmth as Caleb said it did.

When he makes it to the couch, Caleb smiles again, gesturing to the couch. “Have a seat, Essek.”

He can do this. It’s just a couch, not a feral moorbounder.

He moves to sit and winces, but smooths his expression again before lifting his head and meeting Caleb’s eye.

“I believe the number of total marks earned was fourty-eight. Does that sound about right to you, _Kätzchen_?”

“Yes, Caleb.” As if Caleb doesn’t know. As if Caleb isn’t the one that had been counting each one out the whole time.

Caleb nods, and regards Essek for just long enough that it’s a struggle for him not to squirm under it.

“I believe our first order of business is to move somewhere a bit more comfortable than this; while this is lovely, it isn’t what we need.” Caleb stands and heads towards the door, and Molly takes Essek’s hand, pulling him up off the couch to follow after.

They don’t go far, just next door to another room of stuff, but this one is made up as a bedroom. The bed is just as big as theirs, with a lot of the same helpful features- metal loops worked into the frame and posts to act as anchor points for all sorts of things.

Caleb stops him and Molly while they’re still in the middle of the room, and steps into Essek’s space, putting a finger under his chin to lift it up. He leans in, a breath away from a kiss, but doesn’t move closer.

“Here is what is going to happen, _schatz_. I am going to tie you to that bed so that you cannot move. I am going to use your modified Tether Essence on you and Molly, and I am going to, with his help, tease the both of you for the full hour. Neither of us is going to touch your cock, and you won’t be able to. Once the spell has lapsed, I will give our blossom his well-deserved release while you watch, and then, it will be your turn.”

Essek swallows, mouth suddenly quite dry.

“But of course it is not as simple as that; this is a penalty, after all. Before you are allowed to come, you will have to endure ten minutes of being teased while a dunamantic loop is in-place. At the end of that ten minutes, _then_ you will be allowed to come. I feel I should tell you- you are welcome and encouraged to beg, but it will not help you come faster. Do you have any objections to your stated penalty?”

It’s nothing he hasn’t done to the both of them before, multiple times, in a variety of ways. The idea of that, of being teased mercilessly while unable to move, to do anything about it- it’s not unappealing. He has no idea how he will react to it, no idea what his responses will be- it’s never happened to him before- and once again, his curiosity gets the best of him.

“I don’t, Caleb. But-” His brow furrows. “That spell is expensive, are you certain-”

Caleb’s hand moves from Essek’s chin up to his hair and twines in before tightening, pulling Essek’s head back ever so slightly, eliciting a gasp.

“You do realize I am aware of how much you spend on spell components for us on a regular basis, _ja_?”

“Well, yes, but I get paid a frankly ludicrous amount of money and didn’t really ever spend it before you two. The amount I have is obscene.”

There’s a noise of interest from Molly, but it’s quelled by a look from Caleb before he turns back to Essek.

“How much money _you_ have is not the point. And this is something we want to do for you. Unless you have an issue with the activities themselves, I don’t consider the price to be enough to stay my hand.”

“Then no, Caleb, I don’t have any objections.”

“Very well, then. Up on the bed with you.”

As Essek passes him, Caleb swats his ass and Essek yelps before turning to glower at him. Caleb only smiles, and heads to the cabinet on the side of the room, identical to the one in the other chamber.

Essek makes it to the bed, climbing up on top and laying down, figuring Caleb will arrange him how he wants. As he settles, it’s hard to ignore how tender his ass is, the coverlet rubbing against it every time he moves.

Caleb returns a moment later with bundles of rope, shining a burnished metallic gold, but still soft and supple as silk. He gets to work, arranging Essek how he wants- not quite spread eagle, but wrists bound to anchor points just wider than shoulder-width apart. After Caleb helps him shimmy down so that he’s stretched as far as he can, he binds Essek's ankles to anchor points at the foot of the bed. Caleb checks the ropes again, making sure they’re not too tight, making sure Essek can wiggle his fingers and toes.

“You will tell me if anything pinches, or begins to cut off circulation.”

“Yes, Caleb.”

Molly, for his part, is sprawled on his belly not far from him, legs up and kicking in the air behind him as the end of his tail flicks back and forth like a metronome on the bed near Essek’s ribs. He looks far too pleased with whatever is about to happen.

Caleb produces a small spool of platinum cording and Essek watches with no small amount of trepidation as Caleb unwinds half of it and proceeds to wrap it around one of Essek’s forearms. Molly holds up an arm, and Caleb winds the rest around it.

“As you have said before, this is expensive, so I would appreciate it if you would allow it to take.” Caleb smiles at them both and begins casting.

Essek feels it the second the spell takes hold, the platinum cording dissolving away, eaten to power it. There’s suddenly a duplication of sensation, a sense that there’s somehow two of him, when he knows very well there isn’t. He twitches in surprise a moment later as something pinches his nipple, and realizes quickly it wasn’t _his_ nipple that got pinched. Molly’s rolled to his back and is watching him, one hand on his own chest, grinning. All Essek can do is watch as Molly lets his hand wander down, over his belly and between his legs, taking himself in hand and giving a good tug.

And he _feels_ it, Luxon above, he feels it, and it’s- he doesn’t know quite what he’d been expecting, honestly. He’d sort of imagined it to be like feeling the echoes of something- noticeable, but not as intense as experiencing it himself.

He was incorrect.

It feels for all the world like there’s a hand on _his_ cock, tugging, like it was _his_ nipple being pinched. This is perhaps going to be a bit more than he initially realized.

Before Molly gets too much further, Caleb’s come around to his side of the bed, climbing up to sit next to Molly, and has Molly roll back over onto his stomach, pillowing his head on his arms. Caleb pets a hand the length of Molly’s spine, from neck to just above his tail, and Molly hums happily, tail flicking.

Essek, meanwhile, breaks out in goosebumps, trying to keep still, to not start squirming already. 

“We have both experienced this already, so I thought you might like to, as well.”

Caleb reaches for Molly’s tail and rubs a fingertip over one of the ridges.

All plans to keep still, to not move, to remain stoic like he had earlier go right out the window. It feels like nothing he’s ever imagined, sending sparks up his spine, and not reacting is simply impossible.

“Hmm, I think he likes it, Caleb.”

“You know, I think you might be right. Why don’t you move a little closer to him, _schatz_. Give him some attention.”

Molly wiggles closer on his belly until he’s at Essek’s side, and Essek doesn’t trust his smile one bit.

“You said your ears were sensitive, right?”

He doesn’t get a chance to answer before Molly’s touching him, not even dragging a finger along his ear this time but very gently catching the delicately-pointed tip between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing carefully. Essek shudders, a quiet moan slipping out of him as his arms reflexively pull at the ropes holding him in place. Next to him, Molly makes a startled noise, eyes going wide.

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding, were you?”

“Why would I lie about something like that?” Essek’s words come out strained as he fights another moan in response to something Caleb’s doing to Molly’s tail. He’s not quite sure what, doesn’t have context for it other than ‘feels amazing’. Molly has no such compunctions about making noise, and lets out a whimper, eyes sliding shut for a moment as his ears twitch.

For a brief second, Essek catches Caleb’s eye over Molly's shoulders, and Caleb’s smile turns wicked as he lifts Molly’s tail slightly and reaches underneath.

“ _Oh fuck_ -” Molly’s hands clench into the bed sheets at Essek’s side, and Essek-

He can’t even make a noise, eyes wide and back arching against the sensation. Whatever Caleb’s done, he does it again.

And again.

Essek’s thrashing against the ropes, unable to help it, the feeling is just so _much_ , and he doesn’t rightly know what it _is_.

“ _Please-_ ” He doesn’t even know what he’s begging for, really, for Caleb to stop, or do it more, or do something else.

“Please what, _Kätzchen_?”

“Please, Caleb- I-” His words drop away into a helpless moan as Caleb’s fingers drag up the back of one of Molly’s thighs; it’s odd, because he can feel how sore his own ass and thighs are, but can also feel how nice it is when Caleb does it to Molly, and the dueling sensations are wreaking havoc on him.

Eventually Caleb has Molly roll onto his back again, spreading his legs so Caleb can get between them, and it’s all Essek can do to grab onto the ropes binding him and hold on tight as he feels Caleb’s mouth on him, hot and wet, but he _knows_ it’s not his, it must be Molly’s, because Caleb said- he said nobody would touch-

But Light above, it _feels_ real. It feels like it’s _his_ cock Caleb has his mouth around, _his_ cock that Caleb is lashing with his tongue; his stupid dick doesn’t care, can’t tell the difference. He’s hard and getting desperate, and while he doesn’t have Caleb’s intuitive sense of time, he knows it’s barely been any time at all since the spell took hold, but he _wants_ , so very badly.

And there’s nothing he can do about it.

It goes on, Caleb lavishing all sorts of attention on Molly, lips and hands pressed all over, finding every sensitive spot the tiefling has and exploiting them ruthlessly. Molly is writhing, moaning and occasionally pleading with Caleb for _‘More, gods damn you, please, Caleb- I need-’_ but Caleb always pulls back, always backs off.

Essek can’t help but wonder if Molly is going half as crazy as he is, nearly out of his mind with want. He isn't used to waiting, at being _made_ to wait. He's patient, yes, can hold himself back when it suits him, but it’s always been his choice, the decision under his own control.

All that control that he holds so tightly to means nothing right now. He can't affect any of what's happening, isn't responsible for any of it. He hadn't expected it to be so _freeing_.

Or so _intensely frustrating_.

For a moment, the sensations stop, though he can still feel Molly’s arousal like an electric current, thrumming through him and matching his own. When he looks over, Molly is laying there, sprawled out, chest heaving, and flushed. His hair is a wild tangle of plum-colored curls, his forearm draped over his eyes as he tries to catch his breath.

What he _doesn’t_ see is Caleb.

He barely has the time to process what that means when a hand lands on his jaw from his other side.

“ _Hallo, schatz._ ”

The hand presses, coaxing, and he moves with it, turning his head to find he’s nose-to-nose with Caleb. His tongue flicks out, wetting his lips, and Caleb’s eyes dart down for a split second to follow the action.

Well, it’s nice to know it’s not just him and Molly affected.

Caleb leans in and kisses Essek, and _sweet Luxon above_ , Essek wishes he could move. They kiss at the pace Caleb sets, and no faster. Every time Essek tries to deepen it, to lean up for more, Caleb moves back, just out of Essek’s reach.

The fourth time Caleb does it, Essek whines, trying to chase after him again, but pulled up short by the ropes.

“ _Caleb_ -”

“ _Ja, Kätzchen_?”

“Please- please kiss me?”

“I am kissing, you.”

Essek growls in frustration, trying again to lunge up and kiss him, but Caleb’s too fast, easily pressing Essek back down with a hand to the center of his chest.

“If you want me to kiss you so badly, I can do that for you.” There’s a tone to Caleb’s words that has Essek narrowing his eyes as Caleb leans in, pressing his lips to Essek’s jaw. He kisses and nibbles, and it’s a few kisses in when Essek realizes Caleb’s working his way up and to the side, to the hinge of his jaw, to his temple, to his earlobe-

He can’t help the noise that slips out at just the warm puff of Caleb’s breath against his ear, making it twitch. The anticipation is killing him as Caleb waits.

One breath-

Then two-

He’s just starting to think Caleb was only teasing when Caleb leans in and runs the tip of his tongue up the curve of Essek’s ear towards the point.

Essek jerks against the ropes, a strangled noise caught in his throat. Next to him, Molly makes a similar noise, but Essek can’t begin to focus on what’s happening to Molly, because Caleb isn’t stopping, flicking his tongue against the pointed tip, and it’s overwhelming, yet still somehow not enough.

He’s squirming as much as he can, the bedding uncomfortable against the still-warm skin of his ass and thighs, but he hardly notices. He’s achingly-hard now, and _oh_ , what he’d give for Caleb or Molly to touch him, even once.

Caleb stops a moment, and Essek thinks it’s to give him a chance to breathe, but that theory is quickly disproved as Caleb brushes Essek’s hair up and out of his way, leaning in again.

“Caleb, _please_ -”

Warm lips catch the very tip of Essek’s ear, and he shouts, back arching up off the bed. A flood of cursing in a mix of languages comes streaming out of Molly, and for a few minutes, it’s all Essek can do to breathe. His whole awareness is drawn to the tip of his ear, Caleb’s lips pressed around it where he’s flicking his tongue back and forth, driving Essek to the limits of his sanity.

He’s begging, thrashing against the ropes and pleading with Caleb for mercy, but mercy doesn’t come.

Caleb continues, Essek doesn’t know for how long, and by the time he finally stops Essek feels like he’s going to burst into flame, unable to stay still even once Caleb releases Essek’s ear with one last shiver-inducing flick of his tongue.

“Ioun’s _tits_ , Caleb-” Molly gasps. “Fucking- how much time is left on this thing?”

A hand pets down over Essek’s chest, settling on his belly. “Not much longer, blossom. Only about ten minutes or so.”

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes plus another ten just for him.

Twenty more minutes to suffer.

He groans, moving as much as he can, wishing he could move towards either of them. He looks up at Caleb, trying to implore him.

“ _Please-_ touch me, please, Caleb-”

“I did tell you no amount of begging would allow you to come faster.”

“I don’t- I can’t-”

“Yes you can.” Caleb’s hand leaves Essek’s stomach and moves to cradle his jaw again, pulling him into a kiss, this one calm and languid. “You are doing very well, and very soon, I going to make you feel _very_ good.” He kisses Essek again. “You just have to wait a little longer. Do you think you can do that for me, _Kätzchen_?”

Essek pulls at his legs, squirming again, huffing quietly in frustration when he can’t manage any kind of touch to his cock at all.

“I- I can try.”

“That is all I ask, _schatz_.”

Caleb kisses him once more, a quick press of lips to the corner of Essek’s mouth before he’s pulling away again, leaving Essek bereft as he climbs over Essek’s legs to get at Molly again.

The last ten minutes of the spell are spent with Caleb pulling curses and pleas out of the both of them, teasing Molly’s tail until he’s forced to pin Molly down to continue.

It’s maddening, feeling Molly’s cock rubbing against the coverlet as he writhes, Caleb’s fingers rubbing, tugging, and teasing over Molly’s tail. He hadn’t been aware it was possible to be this aroused, had never had occasion to find out before, and the knowledge that not only does he do this to the other two fairly regularly, but that they _let him_ , over and over again-

He doesn’t quite know what to do with that.

He can feel Molly getting close, the rising edge of his orgasm like a tidal wave or avalanche, inevitable. He remembers what Molly had been like after experiencing Caleb come this way- he’d been an utter wreck, begging him for relief, and oh gods, is _he_ going to end up like that? He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to stand it.

Caleb brings Molly closer and closer to the edge, and Essek can’t stop moving, desperately trying to push his hips up into a touch that isn’t there, to grind against a hand that isn’t touching him. Molly’s close- _so close_ \- and Essek is bracing as best he can for it, to try to hold on-

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Caleb’s free hand move, hears Caleb utter something quietly, and oh- _oh no_.

The sensation of impending orgasm stalls, and he feels the tether drop seconds before Molly screams as he comes.

But Essek doesn’t feel that.

He’s on the knife’s edge, unable to come, unable to back off, unable to do _anything_ other than writhe, to try to relieve some of what he’s feeling. Nothing helps, the sensation consistent, never seeming to wane or lose intensity, as if he’s just always about to come.

“Your last ten minutes are starting, _schatz_.” Caleb’s voice is quiet and when Essek gets himself together enough to be able to look over there’s Molly, sprawled out in a gasping heap, and Caleb advancing on him, crawling across the bed.

“You know, I have an excellent memory. There were a number of things you enjoyed doing the last time you had me like this.”

Caleb reaches for Essek’s cock, and Essek tries to squirm away, but he can’t possibly move far enough to avoid it. After the past hour, the first touch of Caleb’s hand to his cock makes him shout, so unbelievably sensitive that he thinks he’d have come if the dunamantic loop weren’t in-place.

It is, though, so every touch Caleb adds- rubbing his thumb just under the head, drawing his fingertips lightly over Essek’s balls, using the precome that’s been leaking out of Essek to ease the way as he strokes him- all of it just layers, and combines, cycling Essek up until it’s all he knows, until he’s mindlessly begging and pleading. He’s not in control of this, Caleb is. It’s not his responsibility to do anything other than lay here and take what Caleb gives him, however difficult.

And he can do that- he _is_ doing that.

He writhes and he begs and he sobs in frustration, senses completely overwhelmed until it’s all he can think about. The only thing that matters is the place Caleb touches him, each touch leaving its mark in unrelenting sensation across his skin.

Caleb’s memory is infuriatingly good, targeting each spot he knows that will drive Essek out of his mind. He pays careful attention to Essek’s ears, the junction of shoulder and neck, nuzzling and nipping at the soft skin of Essek’s thighs before kissing his way back up to his hips. Essek can only watch as Caleb gets closer to his cock, and is nearly beside himself. He feels as if he’ll die if Caleb swallows him down right now, but also like he’ll die if Caleb _doesn’t_.

Either way, it’s a hell of a way to go.

Caleb gets a grip on Essek’s cock then pauses, turns to look him in the eye, and without looking away delicately licks at the tip.

It’s too much, far more than any mortal was meant to take, and as Caleb continues to gently lap around the head of his dick, Essek breaks into a new wave of pleading.

“ _Caleb_ \- please, gods above, I can’t- mercy, _please_ -”

It’s endless, and inevitable, and gods above and devils below, he’d never in a million years imagined anything could feel like this. It’s certainly blasphemous, but he can’t help but wonder if this is what worship of the Luxon is supposed to feel like.

It’s as he’s having this thought that the licking stops and he hears Caleb tell him his ten minutes are up, asking him if he wants to come.

“ _Yes_ \- Caleb, please I want- I need- Light help me _please_ -”

The dunamantic loop releases it’s hold on him, just as Caleb leans over and swallows him to the root.

Normally, he’d be a little embarrassed at coming so quickly, but this was an evening-long seduction, a spread-out tease, and he can’t imagine anyone else would have lasted any longer.

Pleasure flashes through him like a wildfire, his whole body seizing up as he comes; Caleb works him through it, his hand wrapped and stroking around the base of Essek’s cock, his mouth around the head, sucking and swirling his tongue around until Essek is whining, hips twitching with over sensitivity.

“Please- no more-”

Caleb pulls off with one last flick of his tongue, and for a moment, Essek just lays there, limp, boneless, and utterly ruined.

" _Fuck_."

Molly snickers next to him, and he can hear the smile in Caleb’s voice when he quietly admonishes him.

"Language, _schatz_."

Essek snorts, and it quickly turns into a fit of laughter, a release of tension just as much as the orgasm was. He laughs until he cries, tears streaming down his face, eventually wearing himself out. He quiets, settling into the bedding under him, an occasional giggle still working its way out.

There are hands on him, on his face, and others at his ankles- untying him, he thinks. He slits his eyes open and Molly is there, grinning down at him.

“Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are, moonbeam?” He ducks down to kiss Essek, and Essek doesn’t even try to move up towards it, instead letting it happen, letting Molly take the lead. He’s too exhausted to do anything other than lay in place as Caleb unties him, Molly dropping kisses over his face and murmuring praise at him.

It’s nice; there’s nothing to worry about, nothing to be concerned over. The others have him, and he doesn’t have to do anything.

Doesn’t have to _be_ anything, other than himself.

Not Shadowhand, not a leading member of a leading den. 

Just Essek.

It’s been a very long time since he was just himself, and that it was _okay_ that it was just him.

Caleb gets his hands free, he and Molly helping Essek lower his arms back down, each of them cuddling up on either side of him. He’s warm, and he’s comfortable- the state of his ass and thighs aside- and part of him wishes he could keep this, stay like this forever.

“How are you feeling, _Kätzchen_?”

It’s a monumental effort to turn his head enough to blink sleepily at Caleb, but the warm smile he’s greeted by makes it worth it.

“Good-” Essek says, throat rough from screaming. “Good, I think. Definitely better than earlier.”

“That is good.” Cupping Essek’s jaw, Caleb pulls him into a kiss, sweet and gentle and very different than the kissing they were doing not that long ago, more a dance than a fight, and so, _so_ good.

He can’t help humming into it, sighing against Caleb’s lips and melting further into the bed as warm hands smooth over his skin and a tail winds loosely around his ankle.

The hold of Molly’s tail and the press of his lovers on either side of him is comforting, helping to ground and steady him, keeping him from floating off into the night.

This was good. It was definitely better than he’d expected, _different_ than he’d expected. It certainly gives him a great deal more insight into what he does to the other two. Might have even given him some ideas to try.

But those ideas will need to wait. His brain has all the capacity of a gelatinous cube at the moment, most higher-level thinking fucked right out of him, which he knows was the point of the whole exercise.

He curls on his side, tucking himself in against Caleb’s chest and under his chin, reaching behind to grab Molly’s hand, tugging him close and pulling his hand and arm over Essek’s side, sandwiching him happily between the other two.

He knows in a few days he’ll have to pull his mask back on, pick up his mantle again and be Shadowhand Thelyss, left hand to the Bright Queen.

For now, though, he can be here, with Caleb and Molly, and be just Essek.


End file.
